Why The Name "Extend Your Tent"

By now most of you have heard or read our story.  A quick breakdown, we were going through infertility issues in 2015, and I woke up one morning with Isaiah 54 on my mind.  A few weeks later Melissa and I were in church when the pastor starting talking about Isaiah 54 right off the bat. Why such a big deal?  Isaiah 54:1 says, “Sing, O barren women, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband, says the Lord.” Obviously we felt the Lord was speaking directly to us during this time of desiring to become parents.  We could have taken this verse to mean we should have faith the Lord will provide us a child naturally, but we just knew in our hearts He wanted us to pursue adoption.  

This verse talks of a woman who is barren which in those days was considered a disgrace.  In the verse, the woman actually represents Israel during their time of exile. Israel is considered a disgrace, but just like the desolate woman, there will be a return physically and spiritually back to their land.  Or for this barren woman more more children than the others who have had children. Isaiah is saying to go ahead and “sing”, “shout for joy” because the promise(Israel’s return to glory), or this woman being a mother, will occur.  Actually, the Lord is saying it so it’s already been done, you might as well celebrate before it happens in the natural. Even through the adoption process, we can do this. If the Lord has given you a promise, and you know in your heart He wants you to adopt, then to Him it has already been done.  Go ahead, sing, shout for joy, praise Him before the promise comes through.

Verse 2 states to “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.”   In this verse Isaiah is describing the preparation of inheriting the promise the Lord has given you.  He’s telling you in verse 1 that if the Lord has given you a promise, and you are already celebrating, then you also need to go ahead and prepare for the promise to be fulfilled.  You need to make room by extending, or enlarging, the place of your tent and stretching the curtains wide. Do not hold back in the preparations. Isaiah is also letting you know that the journey will not be easy and if you are building a bigger tent then you will need stronger preparations as well.  I didn’t fully realize this particular part of the verse until after we had gone through the process. Yes, we were informed it’s a difficult process but I don’t think you can fully prepare for it mentally until you’re gone through it. The ebbs and flows are non stop, and we’re talking about real people with real emotions and life changing decisions being made.  Not just ours, and our future child’s, but the birth parents and their families too. Adoption in itself comes from brokenness and none of it is easy. This is why this part of the verse rings so true now. If you’re going to expand into a bigger tent to make room for God’s promises, then you must also take your cords out longer and drive your stakes in deeper. If you don’t do that then when the winds, or tough times, come your current stakes and cords won’t be able to handle it.  All along the adoption process the winds would get heavy and the situations would seem insurmountable. We stayed in the Word, asked the Lord to guide us, and praised Him throughout no matter the situation because we knew the promise He had given us. Just because those winds picked up or the situations mounted, we knew our stakes were in The Cornerstone(Isaiah 28:16) and there were no situations that could overcome that. We just had to dig in deeper.

This isn’t to say we never doubted or never questioned, because we did... but we would always come back to what He gave us and who He is.  So if the Lord has put adoption in your heart and He has given you this promise, then prepare for it. Praise Him before you receive your child and get rooted in the Word; so you’re ready for the hard, beautiful process of adoption. This is where we get the name “Extend Your Tent”.

If you have questions, we would love to speak with you further.  We are here to encourage, support, and inform along the way. Please visit our website at https://www.extendyourtent.org/contact-us-2/  and please share this blog with your friends and family.  You never know who it may reach.